Professor SUNY Upstate Medical University Syracuse, New York
Powassan virus (POWV) is a tick-borne flavivirus that can cause severe neurological infection in humans. It is endemic to North America, where it is often transmitted by the tick Ixodes scapularis. This species is also the primary North American vector of B. burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. Infection with B. burgdorferi can result in arthritis, carditis, and neuroborreliosis. In endemic areas, B. burgdorferi infects up to 70% of I. scapularis ticks. In the absence of interaction between the pathogens suggests that most I. scapularis capable of transmitting POWV may also simultaneously transmit B. burgdorferi. This presentation will discuss the human risk of exposure to coinfected ticks that could cause such a combined infection, based on our experimental tick co-infection studies POWV and B. burgdorferi.
